Killer's Game
by Breeze of Summoners
Summary: Three years after the game, the city of Burmecia is slowly gaining its life back. However, a mysterious string of murders threatens to bring the entire city into chaos once more. This is the revised version of Saving Freya, if anyone cares. Ch 3 Up
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One  
Burmecia, Center Street, Late Afternoon**

Dark grey clouds covered the sky over the City of Eternal Rain, and seemed to continue to stretch for many miles to come; the storm would not be stopping any time soon, and perhaps would only get worse. The rain was already coming down harshly, as if it planned to plaster everyone to the ground. It rolled down the roofs of the Burmecian buildings, landing in great puddles on the ground. In the case of buildings that weren't quite repaired, it went straight inside, soaking the building inside and out, destroying valuables and ultimately making repairing the city quite an aggravating process. It was also threatening to take Freya straight off a roof and send her plummeting painfully to the ground, but she managed to keep her footing and not going sliding with the river of rain. It was a good thing, too, because Burmecians were working on fixing the very building she stood on, and she doubted they'd appreciate her landing on them.

"Thor..." Freya began, and immediately the Burmecian she was addressing gave her a glare. Freya only smiled knowingly; Thorley hated the name "Thor" to start off, but nearly everyone in the city called him that, and Freya was no exception. Second off, he despised being bothered when he was working, even if it was for something remotely important. Freya knew this as well, but it didn't make a difference to her; she knew Thor too much to be very polite. "Thor, I'm fairly sure this roof is sturdy. I have no idea what could make you think otherwise..."

"Mainly the fact that it was built quickly, with little regard for whether it would actually stand," Thorley replied coolly, clearly aggravated by the interruption. His grey-blue eyes flickered to give Freya an irritated glare, which quickly became more annoyed when Freya swooped from the roof and landed on the streets behind him. He whirled on her immediately, completely forgetting about his work; for someone who hated to be interrupted, he got distracted easily. "Impressive, the roof held, big deal. Are you going to do something useful sometime today? I didn't know we had days off."

"Calm down, Thor. I really _have_ done my part today... You just happened to not notice," Freya replied smoothly, but Thorley's glare made it quite apparent that he didn't believe one word the Knight was saying. She refrained from sighing and made a broad gesture toward the Royal Gate, standing out in the gloom in the distance. Thorley only grimaced further, but before he could get out an impressive rant that Freya had already heard too many times, she spoke, "The nobles of the city lost a lot as well in the disaster, Thor. I was helping them out today; everyone has been too busy helping everyone out here to realize their problems. They made a lot of progress..."

Thorley simply snorted, but before he could reply, one of the workers beside him gave him an aggravated smack on the shoulder. Thorley sighed and, without another word toward the Dragon Knight before him, resumed working on fixing the wall of the house. His working companion gave Freya an apologetic look, but she smiled and shrugged it off; Thorley was being normal, and for her to get upset over it would be extremely silly. Though, he did have a point somewhat, though he probably didn't know it. Freya had already done plenty of work, but that didn't mean she should get in the way of everyone else. The Dragon Knight decided to make herself sparse, and thus stepped away from the building, tipped her drenched red hat back to get rid a great deal of water weighing down on her head, and swept into the street in hopes to find something helpful to do.

As she walked down the street, though, Freya found that she was out of luck when it came to work. Burmecia had gotten a surprisingly amount of help offers, and despite its massive amount of pride, the city could only accept. There simply weren't enough Burmecians to help rebuild the city; even after three years, they still hadn't found everyone, and the city was terribly underhanded. Some suspected that some former inhabitants had run from their duties to the city, while others merely kept to the weak hope that they were still lost and trying to head home. Whatever the reason for their absence, they were still gone, and it was a terrible blow to the city's workforce. Hence, they had accepted every offer of help that came to them, even from the city of Alexandria, which had caused a huge uproar of anger and mistrust. The King argued that the new Queen of Alexandria was not going to completely destroy them, though few believed the child -- for King Puck was only a child -- had any idea what he was talking about. Regardless of hurt feelings, though, the help from Lindblum, Alexandria, and a few other places had arrived.

And what masses it arrived in! One wouldn't think such help could be offered, considering that Lindblum and Alexandria had to rebuild as well. Surely they could not spare nearly as many workers that had come. Burmecia soon was packed full of humans, demis, and even a stray Cleyran or two from all over the continent, each of them ready and even eager to get to work. Rebuilding Burmecia went from seeming near impossible to something that, with a lot of work, could be accomplished. Three years later, that dream was slowly becoming a reality. A decent portion of houses had been completely repaired, having needed minimal repairs, and those houses that needed to be completely rebuilt were partially on their way to be habitable. The Royal Palace wasn't looking quite so dreary, an inn had been built to try and house the many helpers, and overall the city was starting to look less like a depressing dump and more like a place where people could actually live.

However, there was a slight problem with all the success. Despite the decreasing need for so many helpers, none of them wanted to leave. They were too excited about helping the city rebuild, too into doing their work. Hence, they weren't going anywhere, and they also kept wanting to help. Not wanting to upset anyone, some Burmecians grudgingly gave up their spots. As a result, some Burmecians who really wanted to help simply couldn't, because no one needed them to assist due to all the out-of-city helpers. It was causing some frustration, a few arguments over those "not working", and ultimately some unneeded unrest. It was also, Freya though, rather silly; they should be appreciating the help, even if they wouldn't leave, and arguing about laziness coming from those who, honestly, _couldn't_ rather and _wouldn't_ work, was absolutely ridiculous. Then, she supposed that even during tragedy, some people just weren't exactly intelligent or kind. It caused her to sigh and shake her head, before pushing the thoughts aside, and focusing once more on the hopeless: finding work to do.

As her thoughts had told her, however, it was a hopeless attempt. The only way she could get back to work was to go back to the nobles, or what had once been the nobles of Burmecia. However, they had made it quite clear that Freya had done more than enough for them, that they were tired of working, that they would resume working tomorrow, and _that_ was when Freya should come if she felt so obliged. She could try working elsewhere, but the out-of-city helpers didn't really like being pushed away from what they felt was their work, and Freya truly didn't feel like arguing with someone at that moment. Continuing to think as she walked through the city and once in a while waved to people greeting her, Freya at last came up with one place where she may be able to accomplish something: The Royal Palace. King Puck had demanded that no one try to repair it any further, and focus more on everything else, but Freya could think of no where else to go at that moment, besides home to slack off. Besides, Puck really would appreciate someone fixing up his home; he was pretty bad at feigning otherwise. Hence, a place to go in mind, Freya began to head toward the Royal Gate.

She didn't end up getting very far. In fact, she only got a few more feet forward before she heard a shout for her name. However, the tone was not pleasant, calm, and hopeful, like all the other calls. It was worried and relieved at the same time, with a hint of panic to it. From what Freya could tell, something had gone wrong, and the person was relieved to have found a Dragon Knight to talk to. Stopping in her tracks, Freya swiftly looked around, and quickly found the person who had called for her. It was a young female Burmecian, and she looked generally distressed. Her brown eyes were wide with obvious fear, her outfit crumpled and ruffled, and her white fur probably would've been standing on end if the rain wasn't flattening it down. Overall, Freya immediately knew that something was very wrong, and with a soft frown, she turned and met the woman halfway. The Burmecian tugged at her right arm, pointing off toward an alleyway.

"Lady Freya... Lady Freya, in the alleyway..." She was so stunned and horrified as to be barely able to speak. With how scared she was, Freya had a feeling she didn't want her to either. Frowning, she allowed the woman to lead her toward the alleyway, which Freya noted had no one near it. Normally people would be crowding the alleyways to repair the houses on either side, but this one was disturbingly abandoned. When they arrived at the alleyway, however, Freya found out why. She discovered why no one was around it, and why the female Burmecian was so terrified. She also wondered how no one could have seen this happening.

There was another female Burmecian lying in the alleyway. However, she was not doing nearly as well as anyone else; in fact, Freya could tell just by glancing at her that the Burmecian was quite dead. Judging by the general tidiness of the alleyway, she hadn't done a lot of struggling to stop it, either; Freya assumed she either was taken by complete surprise, or just so terrified that she couldn't think of anything to do. Pushing those thoughts aside, she focused more on the dead Burmecian's looks. It was gruesome, to put it simply; there was a deep, long cut in the woman's stomach, spewing blood and threatening to spew insides onto the cold ground. There was also a long cut across her eyes. She was lying in a large pool of her own blood, a horrified expression frozen in death upon her face. Staring down at the dead, Freya suddenly realized why the other woman was so near hysteria.

"Lilah..." It was only then that Freya remembered the hysterical woman's name, though why she remembered it at that time was something she couldn't explain. She looked over at the living Burmecian, who was staring at the dead body fearfully. "Lilah, could you please go find one of the other Dragon Knights? It doesn't matter whom... Thank you." Lilah seemed delighted by the opportunity to get away from the horrific sight, and thus she charged away, soon leaving Freya feeling spookily alone. Still no one had approached the alleyway, which seemed incredibly odd for her. The body had clearly been lying on the ground for a while, judging by the amount of blood already on the ground; why had no one noticed until now? It made no sense to Freya, whose brow furrowed with confusion while she carefully approached the body. She couldn't help but feel that something was incredibly off...

The snap of a crossbow caused her to fall down to the ground, and a bolt shot through the air, where her shoulder had been seconds before. The bolt clanged loudly against the nearby building, falling to make more noise on the ground. By then Freya had leapt to her feet, a Dragon Ability on the tip of her tongue. In a classic show of how peace made some people really lazy, she did not have her weapon with her; she would have to hope that her Abilities were not sore from a lack of use. Mentally cursing her laziness, Freya looked in the direction the bolt had come from, then quickly chanted out the Ability while holding out her hand. Within a few moments, a dragon suddenly burst from the air, swirling around the building in front of Freya. Rose petals swirling lazily with the dragon suddenly burst into flames, swiftly doused by the rain but still lasting long enough to cause damage. As smoke billowed from where the Ability had set off, Freya peaked to see if her opponent was still there; as she had expected, they had fled.

"Freya! What are you--" The familiar voice was cut off, and Freya heard a distinct _whoomp_ come from behind her. Whirling around, she found a fellow Dragon Knight to be on his back, staring at the sky -- and thus getting a faceful of rain -- with deep surprise. Freya blinked, shocked, wondering what was wrong, and really wanting to know how Sir Fratley had ended up on his back on the ground. She watched as the Knight rose to his feet, brushing at her brown outfit and hair, then reached out his hand tentatively. To both of their surprise, his hand met with resistance, and it couldn't stretch out fully. Something was blocking his path. Blue eyes narrowing, Fratley looked toward Freya, obviously wanting an explanation.

Freya shrugged helplessly. "I didn't cast anything, I assure you; Lilah and I got through without trouble." She then paused, green eyes turning upward as she thought. "Though, there was a man here. I didn't get a good look at him; he was trying to hide on that roof. I used a Dragon Ability and I'm pretty sure he ran off. I'm positive we can blame him for all of this." Freya swept her arms about to encompass the dead body, the bolt lying on the ground, and the invisible spell preventing Fratley from getting through.

"Huh... Hang on. I think Rose probably has a Dispel scroll I can try using." With that, Fratley headed off, leaving Freya in the alley. Sighing, she looked around, trying to piece together what was happening. Apparently someone had cast a spell that, from what she could see, only allowed females through. It didn't explain why no one had seen the body and reported it, but it did explain, somewhat, why no one was in the alleyway. That person had then murdered someone, but instead of leaving so as not to get caught, they had left to try and shoot at others. It was a bizarre and distressing situation, and definitely not what the slowly recuperating city of Burmecia needed to deal with.

The distinct sound of a Dispel, well, spell at work brought her from her musings, and she watched as the spell hit the barrier with great force. Inside, Freya suddenly got a massive headache, and she quickly came to the realization that being inside a barrier that was being destroyed was an extremely bad idea. Before she could try and get out, though, the Dispel successfully shattered the barrier, and it felt like it had also blown up her head. Rather, Freya and the body both went backward, Freya at a considerably higher speed since she was standing up. The body slid sickeningly a few feet away; Freya hurtled ten feet and soon slammed into the ground. Fratley stared with horror and dashed over to Freya, who painfully rose to a sitting position, muttering something about a complete lack of caution. After glancing at Fratley, who looked incredibly guilty but for some reason didn't say anything, she decided to forget about the pain, and just be happy that the Dispel had actually worked.

Freya opened her mouth to say something, but a great deal of shouting and surprised calls stopped her cold. Suddenly, in the span of a few seconds, the alleyway was _packed_ full of people. Many of them were workers, she noted, coming to work on the houses -- an odd thing, she thought, considering they hadn't come before. When they saw the body and two Knights on the ground, however, many of them began to panic, backing away in considerable fear. Some headed off, crying for help, while a few stepped in and began asking what had happened, what was going on, and if the Knights needed any help. A select few gave Freya and Fratley suspicious looks, obviously wondering what they were doing near a dead body, and one or two people began to nervously work on the buildings as if nothing was wrong at all. Startled by the sudden onslaught of people, Freya scrambled to her feet, then glanced over at Fratley. She jerked her head toward the Royal Gate, and immediately Fratley nodded before heading in a swift run toward the Gate; Freya hoped he had gotten the right message. Him out of the way, Freya turned toward the people.

"Everyone, calm down! The Knights are taking care of it!" Freya shouted reassuringly, making sure to not tell even the slightest lie. She made sure not to imply that everything was okay; that false hopes simply didn't work was one of many life's lessons she had learned in the past ten years. She was soon assaulted with questions, which caused her to call out, trying to answer everything at once. "No, I do not know who caused this, but I am certain they are no longer in the city. Lilah discovered the body; there was spell cast that appears to have prevented anyone but Burmecians to notice the body, and only female Burmecians could approach it. No, I don't know what this means. I'm certain none of you are in danger." _So shut up already!_

Slowly, as Freya continued to ask questions and try to keep all answers positive, the people began to calm down. A few of them slipped away from the alley, most likely unable to stand the sight that grimly greeted anyone who entered the way. Some brave and perhaps unfeeling individuals stayed to continue working on the house, while others stayed around attempting to be helpful, and asking if there was anything they could do to help. Freya tried her best to keep all of them busy; she had a few go to inform the Knights of what happened, another to try and find a detective of some sort, a particularly huge and strong fellow to make sure no one suspicious was around, and various other people to get supplies to clean everything up. Seven minutes later, though it seemed like eons later, Freya had managed to get a remote amount of order. Taking a deep breath, she leaned against a nearby building, rubbing her temples, in an attempt to catch a break and come to terms with what was going on.

"Freya! What the... Oh _crap_. Freya, what in hell happened?" Unfortunately for her, the most annoying Burmecian on Gaia had arrived, and she was never going to have a break again. Sighing, Freya looked to her right to see that Fratley had indeed successfully gotten her message, and a child around twelve-years-old, dressed in royal clothes that looked absolutely silly on him, was approaching. He looked generally annoyed, and seeing a dead body was obviously not helping King Puck's mood. Freya assumed he had been trying to have a break from being King -- judging by his constant threats of stepping down, being a King was something he particularly disliked -- when Fratley came to fetch him.

"I'm not sure. Lilah found the body a few minutes ago. When I approached it, someone shot at me with a crossbow. I chased them off with an Ability. Fratley tried to approach but a spell threw him back. He successfully dispelled it, which is when all these people suddenly showed up," Freya explained as quickly as she could, knowing that Puck absolutely hated to listen to long explanations. "I think the spell prevented anyone but Burmecians from seeing the body, and then allowed only females in."

"I've never heard of such a spell in my life, but I believe ya," Puck grumbled, shaking his head. "All right, so we have a weird-o killing a woman, then apparently trying to kill others in the process? And most likely decently skilled at some sort o' magic?" Freya nodded, causing Puck to lean against the building thoughtfully. When he really felt like it, the child could be impressively smart; unfortunately, he didn't feel like it very often. "See any particularly fascinating features? And where was he, anyway?"

"He looked like a normal assassin, to be truthful -- Wore dark clothing to blend in; I only noticed him because he was reloading his crossbow quickly, and the blur of movement was hard to miss... He was on the roof, settled a little low on that side so as to be hidden from this view." Freya motioned to the roof she had spotted the man on. Puck looked up at the roof thoughtfully then shook his head. Fratley simply said nothing, taking all this information in silently. None of them noticed that two more Burmecians, older and battle-hardened, were listening silently as well, exchanging knowing glances once in a while. One of them was a female with light grey fur, blond hair tinged with white from age, and deep violent eyes; the other was a male with unusually dark fur, brown hair showing no signs of age, and brilliant yet bizarre orange eyes.

"So basically we're dealing with a smart guy who apparently knows the city pretty well. Great. I was hopin' we'd get stuck with a dumbass." Puck sighed, then looked up and over at all the Burmecians present. He looked toward the two newcomers, acknowledged them with a nod, then looked at the group as a whole. Behind him, someone examined the body, while a few others prepared to take it away. He ignored them entirely, though Freya was positive he had seen them; he apparently figured they could do their job without his badgering. "I want all four of ya to meet me in two hours. We've plenty to try and figure out, and I trust your intelligence more than anyone else's." He swept his gaze about once more, then nodded. "See you then." With that, the King swept away, without a word toward the Burmecians examining the body.

The Burmecian who had especially looked over the body suddenly sighed, rolling his eyes. He looked toward the Knights, three -- Freya, Fratley, and the male newcomer -- of them giving him sympathetic smiles. He cleared his throat, then asked, "Should I just deliver the report to the King? Or would one of you like it?"

"Just give it to the King," the female newcomer said swiftly, shaking her head. "He wouldn't like it if it was passed on to him from one of us, no matter how much he apparently 'trusts our intelligence.'" Her voice was thick with sarcasm, and her male companion rolled his eyes as he heard her tone. She ignored him completely and looked over at Fratley and Freya. "Always something miserable happening, eh? See you later... Need to prepare myself for dealing with oh Wonderful Puck." She walked off, causing her companion to chuckle, shaking his head.

"She's so pleasant, isn't she?" he asked, to the groans and rolling of eyes of Freya and Fratley. "Yes, I thought so too. See you in a while." He nodded his head, then walked off, most likely to make sure his "pleasant" companion "prepared" herself properly. Freya and Fratley watched them go, a knowing look in their eyes; they both knew Lady Rose and Sir Aireff quite well, and for good reason. Hence, they knew that the two Knights were guaranteed to show up, and that Rose probably really _was_ preparing herself for a delightful meeting with Puck; she and the child normally didn't get along very well. Aireff probably truly was making sure Rose wouldn't kill the King, as well. As for Puck... He was probably promising himself that he would step down from being King as soon as safely possible.

"You all right?" It wasn't until Fratley spoke that Freya realized he was looking at her with concern. She looked over at him, then gave him a weak smile and nodded. In truth, she was a little upset and maybe even slightly disturbed by what had happened, but after seeing so much death and destruction, she knew better than to let herself be completely horrified by it. Still, her general discomfort was quite clearly evident; that, or Fratley had become a mind reader and forgot to inform her.

"I'm fine... Let's go. I believe they can handle everything from here," Freya muttered softly, motioning to the Burmecians who were finally wrapping up the body. They nodded, smiling at Freya's trust, though it was obvious they didn't like one bit of what was going on, and really would've preferred Freya keeping an eye on them. They immediately began to work a little quicker when Freya announced her leave, probably so they wouldn't be vulnerable for long. The Knight noticed, but she didn't have any immediate worries at that point; she was certain she had chased the murderer off. As she and Fratley walked down the street, however, she was still disturbed. Someone had gotten into the city, with a weapon. They had killed a Burmecian successfully, without a fuss, then cast a powerful spell. And no one had noticed until now. It was a scary thing to think about...

Worse, Freya had no doubts that they would return. She could think of no reasons why they wouldn't. Swallowing, she looked around, thinking about how there were two more hours to go. She immediately wondered what could happen in two hours time... Then immediately shut off the thoughts. The answer to her question was clear:

Too many.

* * *

Especially with me in charge. -bwahahahaha- Anyway, yes, this is the revised Saving Freya. I just felt like rewriting it. Of course, it now has basically nothing to do with saving Freya, which explains the (crappy) title change. This is a test run, with revisions possible and very likely. I would appreciate any comments from anyone, and I hope to keep this thing well updated. Plot screwups, OoC problems, just weirdness, anything you can offer I will listen to! As a note to that, yes, I know Fratley turned into a mute in this chapter… He'll say more next time. And my description/history sucks, too. Oops. 

I have many ideas for this story, and I hope it goes a lot more smoothly than its first (technically second, but for you guys it's the first) version! Also, remember: I haven't played the game in a loooong time. I can't remember what most of the spells looked like, and keeping characters IC is going to be a pain in the rump. I'll try my best! Thank you for reading, and have fun!

To end, amusing mistypes of the day!

"It wasn't until Fratley spook that Freya realized he was looking at her with concern."  
"Oh _rap_."

This story is copyright to me. All aspects of Final Fantasy IX are copyright to Square-Enix.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two  
Burmecia, Royal Gate, Early Evening, Two Hours Later**

Luck had held out for the city of Eternal Rain; no other disasters haunted the city. During the two hours that Freya found herself tense, and waiting for a counterstrike, she got nothing but peace, steady construction, and ever-increasing reports of a near-perfect amount of security in the city. This latter point made no sense to her, as it offered no explanation for how the murderer could've possibly gotten in the city. The guards at the gate reported seeing and hearing nothing, and they reported that they had opened the gates for no one. The few soldiers -- there would be more, but many had been lost three years ago, and many more needed to repair rather than fight -- patrolling the streets reported seeing no one, hearing nothing, and sensing no danger. It did not assure Freya in the least; it was wonderful that the city was in top security, but incredibly disturbing that someone had managed to kill someone, cast a spell, _and_ sit on a roof, without anyone noticing.

The two hours between the discovery of the murder and meeting with Puck had been distressing for Freya, indeed. There had been nothing else to think about, or nothing else that seemed so important. Hence, Freya had headed to her home, one of the few houses looking decent. Fratley had joined her, and the two had spent of great deal of time trying to figure out what in the world could've happened. In the end, the two of them came up with close to nothing, except for the completely obvious. The two of them basically agreed that the man must have some very excellent magic skills of some sort, and that he had most likely either teleported into the city, or made himself invisible and floated in. Both were absolutely bizarre possibilities, incredibly unlikely, and over all, extremely silly. Worse were the possible reasons for him killing the female Burmecian, whose name the two were eventually informed of: Anke.

A few reasons they had come up with were remotely sensible. Anke could've done something that made the killer want revenge, she could've done something to make the killer's _employer_ want revenge, or he could just be a psychopath. The other reasons were not nearly as sensible. In fact, the other reasons were absolutely bizarre, and Freya wondered how they could've come up with them in the first place.

"Perhaps she looked distinctly like someone he knew, but was a Burmecian, so he assumed she was in disguise..." This was Fratley, and the more he said it, the more Freya couldn't help but stare. When he trailed off and smiled, she realized that he knew how stupid it seemed, and he shook his head. "Never mind. It seemed decent in my mind."

"I don't want to know what _else_ seems decent in there, then," Freya said mockingly. She then quickly became serious, eyes turned upward to stare at the dreary ceiling above her. She bit her lip thoughtfully, but no revolutionary possibilities came to her. In fact, not even any completely goofy ones came to her mind. It was almost as if her brain had gotten tired of working, and decided to take a break. She sighed and shook her head. "Well, at least you came up with something, I suppose. I can't think of a thing besides the general, unhelpful assumptions."

Hearing this seemed to set Fratley to thinking again. He took off his hat and began to fumble it, as if it had hindered his thinking, but his silence continued. Freya watched him for a few moments, before finally shaking her head and tapping the table, indicating a change in subject. Soon, the last subject they could think to discuss came up: what would the killer do next? Freya somehow had a feeling that the killer would return; after all, the entire set up had clearly been intended to harm someone other than Anke. The man staying around and shooting at Freya proved that fact well. However, if the man came back, the question was when and where would he come back, and whom he would target next. These questions were the hardest to answer of all; they knew close to nothing about the man, and they were also not overly excellent at predicting another's motives. Perhaps three years ago Freya could've given it a decent shot, but after a few years of doing basically nothing but rebuilding and going to parties she really wished to skip out on, many of her handier skills had gone severely down the drain.

Still, they managed to come up with a few things. Freya assumed that the man would try to go after Lilah or herself. He would probably go after Lilah because she had found the body, and he'd _definitely_ go after Freya because she'd successfully chased him off. However, how he would go about it was a different story entirely. Where he'd end up depended on where Lilah and Freya would be, and neither of them could predict that properly; it all depended on the meeting with Puck. When he would come could only be guessed generally; Freya and Fratley agreed that he would probably come at night, to avoid being seen so easily by someone again; on a side note, they also agreed that him appearing in the middle of the day was absolutely bizarre, and incredibly bold. Finally, they concluded that very little could really be determined or guessed upon until Puck met with them, and went over whatever he wanted to discuss. It made the two Knights feel rather helpless, but it was all they could conclude.

An hour later, however, progress was about to be made, or so the two hoped. The two Knights had made it to the Royal Gate, and were waiting for Rose, Aireff, and Puck to show up. Puck had a strange problem with people meeting him right at the castle, and preferred to meet at the Royal Gate first. Freya decided it was paranoia, Rose said it was "just Puck", and Aireff and Fratley chose to keep their opinions completely to themselves. Regardless of how anyone felt about it, though, they were slowly getting used to it; Freya was even starting to find it to be rather helpful. The gate kept them dry while waiting for Puck to show up -- he had a habit of showing up extremely late, and Freya had a funny feeling he did it just to annoy everyone -- and even a little time to try and discuss a few things before meeting. Overall, it was a time to try and relax before meeting and, most likely, getting scolded by a child who wanted to be off adventuring, but was staying only long enough to try and bring the city back to order.

Freya and Fratley only had to wait a few minutes before Rose and Aireff arrived on the scene. Rose looked purely irate, and once she had gotten under the Royal Gate and uselessly shaken off the extra water, her fur bristled slightly. Freya was going to say hello, but one look of death from the older woman made her decide that unless she wanted her throat slashed open, it wouldn't be wise. Aireff, thankfully, looked far more approachable; in fact, he was the only one in the group who looked normal. He had a calm, placid look on his face, his eyes sparkling with a hint of humor below seriousness, and he stood quite pleasantly, though a safe distance from his wife, who was even giving him murderous look. Fratley shared the calm look of his father, but he also was clearly concerned; Freya was just generally nervous, and wanted to start solving the situation immediately. Looking around and clearly taking all this in, Fratley focused his attention on his mother, then quickly changed his mind and looked at Aireff.

"Please tell me she is not going to murder Puck the second she sees him," he said in a very concerned tone. Aireff looked over at him, then glanced at Rose; then, oddly enough, he smiled pleasantly. Fratley blinked with surprise, while Rose decided to try and melt the wall with her glare. Freya decided to keep silent and listen; she too wanted to know what was so wrong with Rose. She hadn't seemed nearly so angry before; in fact, she had almost seemed _happy_ for once.

"It's not Puck, actually. She got into an argument with one of the helpers from Alexandria," Aireff said in his normal, neutral tone. Fratley nodded his head for him to continue, and Aireff did, in a voice that said he was taking no sides. Freya sometimes wondered where he got his impressive ability to stay on the fence, when there seemed to not be one to be on. "The man wanted to help build our house. Rose wanted only her and I to rebuild it. The man pointed out that this would take a long time and we would be stuck without a house for a while. Rose said that being it was a Burmecian house, her house at that, then Burmecians should build it, not others from other cities. He took offense, and they argued from there."

"And that has her ready to kill?" Fratley asked with disbelief. He looked over at Rose with shock; even after three years, Fratley still wasn't _quite_ used to how incredibly hot-tempered his mother would be. Freya assumed he never would be; it took him sixteen years to get used to it the first time, and he had been a child then. Most adults, from what she could see, couldn't get used to Rose in twenty years, let alone the three Fratley had had so far. She refrained from sighing, and pushed away her regrets over Fratley's loss of memory; the past was the past, and she would just have to deal with it.

"-- Build my own house just _fine_." Rose's icy voice brought Freya straight out of her musings. The woman had turned around, and was giving every one of them a very aggravated look. Aireff returned the gaze coolly while Fratley backed up a few paces, even though he was already seven feet from the woman. Freya, quite used to Rose's mood swings, looked over at the woman with a tired, "not now, Rose" gaze. Rose looked at the three of them, then snorted. "I'm arrogant and too full of pride for my own good. So kill me now."

"Sure thing! Would you prefer a Dragon Ability or being stabbed?" Aireff replied cheerfully, getting a not-quite-grumpy glower from his wife. He merely grinned, knowing that his strange, "serious" comments could sometimes bring Rose out of a bad mood. Her sense of humor was incredibly unusual, and Aireff could cater to it perfectly. Freya simply watched with great amusement, used to the two Dragon Knights; Fratley, on the other hand, watched with curiosity. Ten or so years ago, he would've been rolling his eyes, just as used to it as the rest of the group.

"I think I'll pick this time to break up the cheerful 'family' reunion." Puck's loud, annoying voice cut off any reply Rose was going to come up with, and the four Knights immediately looked toward the Castle. Puck was standing at the top of the Royal Gate, looking down at them with a serious look on his face, yet a sparkle of amusement in his blue eyes. For someone who had to try and find a way to prevent more murders in a city, he was certainly in a decent mood. "Come on, let's move." With that, the King whirled about and began walking back toward the Castle. The four Dragon Knights exchanged glances, then together began to follow Puck.

The "richer" part of Burmecia had taken just as much damage in the past as the rest of the city, though some of the more aggravated refused to acknowledge it. Many of the formal shops had been destroyed completely, leaving people jobless and, in some cases, homeless as well, when their house had been part of the shop. Those whose shops had been spared found them badly damaged, and all their goods stolen. Those who had kept their houses found them to be in similar condition. Furthermore, the "nobles" and merchants of Burmecia were getting a pitiful amount of supplies to rebuild with, as most supplies went to the former poor. No one truly realized how the entire city was destitute, and how it didn't matter whether someone was "rich" or "poor"; they still had no home, and still needed help. It was a rather tragic situation, and proved how social classes affected everything, even when they were technically destroyed.

Having gotten fewer repairs, Burmecia beyond the Royal Gate was looking very destitute. Freya looked around at the surroundings, her face not betraying her sadness, as she gazed upon the charred remains of houses, great chunks of stone that had once been royal homes, and cracked streets that people had once walked upon freely and happily. Moving from the neighborhoods, she looked up at the Castle they were approaching, which was in a state of half-repair. While Burmecians would not help average noble citizens, they _would_ repair the Castle for their King, something Freya had chosen not to try and understand. As she thought on it, gazing about the city, she realized that she didn't question much of _anything_ that happened during repairs anymore. She figured she'd have plenty of time to think about it later, once the city was back to normal, and she had close to nothing to do. Though, with a murder happening, Freya realized that perhaps she wouldn't be able to relax nearly as quickly as she wished...

The group's walk to the castle was uneventful, no one in the streets to greet them, no one watching them from behind buildings. It was eerily quiet, with the sounds of construction echoing in the distance, and the Dragon Knights, in stark contrast to the boldly walking Puck, couldn't help but be on edge. While it seemed like they were alone and not being watched, they couldn't help but have a distinct feeling that someone was observing them unseen. Once they reached the great doors of the gate, the feeling seemed to dissipate. When they had entered the grand hall of the castle, following Puck as he headed swiftly and without pause toward one of the pack rooms, the paranoia vanished altogether. Relaxing visibly, the Knights followed Puck was considerably more confidence, though none of them forgot the distinct discomfort the outdoors had offered them. Still, they had more important things to focus on, such as not losing track of a swift-moving, short Burmecian, and hence they followed the King through at least three hallways, until at least reaching their destination.

This location happened to be a massive room, longer than it was wide. It appeared to be untouched by the destruction the rest of the city drowned in; the walls were clean, the paintings hung upon them untouched and cheery, and the stone floor free of any stains. A large table stood in the center of the room, smooth and free of cuts or discoloring, and except for a small chunk missing from the edge of the seat, its accompanying chairs were in similar condition. It was roomy, comfortable, and strikingly beautiful and perfect in comparison to everything else the Burmecians had seen. The Dragon Knights couldn't help but stare with surprise; they had assumed, like the rest of the city, that everything and everyone had been affected by the tragedy three years ago. Puck turned to examine them, and smiled at their surprised expressions. Without any explanation, he waved at them to sit, then sat down at one of the chairs. The Dragon Knights seated themselves silently, exchanging glances with each other, then all looking at Puck expectantly. He showed no signs of noticing, and simply sifted through a great stack of papers that had been at the seat he sat in.

"So..." It was a wonderfully professional way to start of a serious meeting, or at least it was for Puck. He looked down at the papers in his hand, then began to scramble madly through them, sending a few flying across the table. Except for Rose, who was too busy scowling, the Dragon Knights calmly caught high-flying papers, while Puck suddenly plucked a paper from the pile. "Ah. All right, so basically this woman was murdered a full three hours, give or take one hour, after Lilah noticed her. Two to four hours she'd been lying there, and no one noticed. The slash to her eyes had been made first, _then_ the killing blow. There's a decent amount of time between the wounds, too: five minutes. No struggle, obviously no noise, _nothin'._ The chances of _one_ of these things happenin', let alone _all_ of them, is a thousand to one. Any ideas?" Puck's tone got considerably more frustrated as he spoke, and Freya couldn't help but sympathize; it _was_ an aggravating and confusion situation.

"There was a spell," Fratley began, as Freya was a little too into her thoughts. "When I tried to approach the body, I was knocked back by a spell. However, Freya was able to approach without trouble. A Dispel scroll worked and the spell was destroyed without trouble." He paused, ignoring the gazes of surprise on him. Except for Freya, no one had had any idea that Fratley had been so involved with the case, mainly because lately Fratley didn't get involved in much of anything. "The minute it was gone, people swarmed the alley... I think the spell prevented anyone but Burmecians seeing the body, and only female Burmecians approaching it. It was a shield of some sort."

Silence followed Fratley's words, as the entire room began to think over what he said. Freya nodded to herself, finding that she agreed with Fratley. Rose soon looked up, not saying a word, and Freya assumed she had the same thoughts as Fratley. Aireff and Puck, however, were still clearly in thought. Aireff gazed at the ceiling thoughtfully, still as stone, while Puck shifted absentmindedly through the papers before him. The silence was thick, the tension building up slowly, and Freya soon found that she wished someone would say something, and enlighten her and what was occupying the King and older Knight's thoughts.

"A shield?" Aireff's soft, calm voice regardless managed to seem loud and powerful in the room. All eyes turned to him, only to find him to still be staring at the ceiling, as if it held all the answers to their problems. "Isn't there some type of magic that can cast a shield of sorts...? White Magic, I think... Ah, yes. 'Protect' and 'Shell'. Both of them protect against damage, normally by absorbing it. And 'Reflect' causes magic to simply bounce off someone."  
"You're suggesting that this man can cast a modified version of White Magic?" Rose asked, clearly doubtful. "That sounds a little absurd. Magic can be manipulated, certainly, but not to _that_ extent. That's completely changing the magic..." She trailed off, as an idea apparently hit her. Whatever it was, however, she didn't speak it. Freya watched her quietly, before deciding to try and continue where Rose left off; Rose's words had brought an idea to her.

"Not exactly. The spell reflected Fratley, just like Reflect reflects magic. That makes it much like a Reflect spell, perhaps even the same things; it just reflected something completely different." She paused, as a counter to her theory came to her mind. "Though, it doesn't explain why no one noticed the murder, nor why we didn't hear a thing--"

"A Silence spell," Puck cut in, ignoring Freya's glare at his interruption. "A Silence spell, cast upon the victim, would prevent her from making a sound. Black Magic, existing, and an easy solution to that problem. Once she died, the spell would naturally disappear. Why no one would notice its casting is a problem, but the spell existing is not. As for people not noticing... Isn't there an invisibility spell? It's not Black or White Magic, but I think one exists--"

"'Vanish'. It's Blue Magic. It _could've_ been cast to make he and the victim disappear, and dissipated soon after. However, people still would've gone over to the alley to work, and most likely noticed _something_ was amiss. No, I don't think Blue Magic was involved in this," Aireff interrupted, apparently finding that if Puck could cut off everyone, so could he. He smoothly ignored Puck's attempt at yelling at him, and kept on talking. "I think the shield did more than just reflect people. I think it also prevented non-Burmecians from even knowing the alleyway existed at all, or cast an illusion of the like."

More silence came upon the group, as they all considered this wild possibility. In the end, they all came up with the same conclusion: Aireff appeared correct. It explained why no one had approached the alleyway, and why they swarmed in the very second the spell vanished. Not knowing the alleyway -- and perhaps the houses surrounding it -- existed, the workers would've found no reason to go near it and work on it. Nearby Burmecians would've been scolded for heading in the wrong direction -- toward what the out-of-city workers thought was nothing -- and thus, to keep away arguments, would go back to other houses to try and work. It was luck that Lilah had happened upon the alley at all; she probably would've been investigating for someone, perhaps. However, despite all the questions it answered, Aireff's conclusion only made things more baffling.

The "shield" had only covered the alleyway, which meant that if it was an illusion, the workers would've still known that the _house_ existed, and still been working on it; however, no one had been near the house. Furthermore, certainly some Burmecian would've gotten bold enough to investigate the alleyway in the two to four hour's time that the body had lain on the ground. The body should've been discovered many hours before. Finally, the spell theory had a great hole in it: no such spell existed. There was no shield that not only reflected _specific_ people, but also made things completely nonexistent to others. It explained many things, only to bring up more problems, and emphasize on those yet unsolved. It caused the group to frown, rub their foreheads, and try and think of something better, or reasons that such flaws were present.

"All right. We get it, this is strange, and we can't figure out what really happened. However, I doubt we _can_ from only one event... But we don't need another one. What we need to do is figure out _why_ this woman was murdered, and when this guy may try it again," Rose said, her voice full of exasperation. She looked around, only to meet a bunch of nodding heads, which caused her to scowl. "Well, then start thinking! We know that this guy apparently has a beef with female Burmecians; why else set up such a scheme that only allowed them in? Furthermore, he apparently planned to take down many at once, since he stuck about for hours just to shoot at someone approaching the body. This guy is quite _insane_, and I believe we should quickly find out where he'll--"

"Me." Freya's flat tone cut Rose off completely, causing the older woman to, surprisingly, close her mouth without delivering a reprimand. She gazed at her companions, who looked at her with needs for an explanation, though Freya could tell that they agreed with her. "I approached the body, to start off. Then I dodged his crossbow bolt without blinking an eye. And _then_ I attacked him with a spell. Certainly Lilah found the body, but I certainly did a lot more than that. He'll most likely take me as a threat and try to get rid of the threat."

"Sounds lovely. However, Lilah is a threat as well. Perhaps not as big of one, but if she hadn't discovered the body, you wouldn't have gotten anywhere." Puck looked at the Knights collectively, who looked at him expectantly. His tone told them that he was tired of the meeting, and planned to bring it to an end very soon. "All right. We've been here for who-knows-how-long, and all we can conclude is that this guy is most likely a crazily powerful mage, and that he will most likely attack someone for revenge. Either way, we _do_ know something important: he's powerful, he's angry, and he's guaranteed to come back."

"Let me guess," Rose said coolly, obviously displeased with the quickly coming end to the meeting. "You want us to go on patrol, and make sure he doesn't kill another person? Even though we know nothing about him, nothing about the first murder, nothing about his intentions, and basically nothing _important?"_ Rose's classic temper was flaring in an instant, and Aireff gave her a warning glance. She completely ignored it, glaring at Puck, who returned her harsh gaze with his own. Freya watched them quietly, wondering if someone would have to intervene.

When Puck spoke, however, he was perfectly calm. "Yes. I understand there is plenty to figure out. But while we're sittin' on our asses tryin' to figure it out, _he's_ getting ready to murder somebody else. Sit here for too long, and we'll have _two_ murders to use to try and figure out his motives. And I honestly don't care to find out that way. So go out there and stop him." With that, Puck rose and left the room, leaving the papers on the desk.

The Dragon Knights in the room exchanged glances, none of them surprised or shocked. Puck had a particular hatred for long meetings, especially ones that didn't have anything insightful coming out in the first five minutes. With more time, Freya felt they could've made some decent conclusions, and maybe even had a better idea on where the murderer would show up. Unfortunately, Puck had been sitting around for too long -- Freya estimated the meeting had lasted at least half an hour -- and was in no mood to listen to more contemplation. He wanted action, not thoughts, and he wanted the murderer captured. His impatience had eliminated any chances of being able to get farther. It caused Freya to sigh and shake her head, getting the knowing smiles of Aireff and Fratley, though Rose was too busy scowling to sympathize.

The silence in the room was shattered by Rose abruptly rising. Without so much as a glance toward her fellow Knights, she charged out of the room, with an air that said she was ready to kill. Aireff soon was on her heels, most likely making sure she wouldn't strange Puck with her bare hands; before hustling out, however, he nodded politely to Freya and Fratley. The two remaining Knights glanced at each other, then smiled softly. They, and the two Knights who were charging around somewhere in the castle, had the same thought.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

I have to find a better way to end chapters _without_ having a cliffhanger. Anyway, I started this chapter back when I wrote the first one, but then my Writing Muse got in a fight with the School Muse, and lost. But now I have some time to write again, so here we are. It flows like rocks, has possible-OoC-ness galor, and has enough dialogue to kill a dinosaur, but I was trying to make it interesting without being tedious. Dialogue sometimes is the best way to do such. I had actually planned to explain what happened to Burmecia in the past ((AKA. Kuja, Brahne, and such)), but it never really fit; random explanations on a game really don't fit into trying to figure out a lunatic's motives and abilities. -laugh- I was also going to add more to this chapter, but it's long enough already, so we'll get some nice excitement the next chapter. 'Til then! 

And... Another funny typo!

His impatience had elimatined any chances of being able to get farther.

You have to wonder, how do my fingers type these things?

See you soon, hopefully!

This story is copyright to me. All elements of Final Fantasy IX are copyright to Square-Enix.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three  
Burmecia, Center Street, Midnight, Two Days Later**

The sudden lack of activity and dangerous happenings was enough to have any skilled warrior nervous. Most would be relieved by it, and thus slack off a bit and decide that things must be safe once more. They would return home, forget about what had happened, and mentally write off the crime as a one-time happening, and the murderer as a coward who didn't want to try and reveal himself. Freya, on the other hand, only got more nervous as nothing happened. Two days -- two full days! -- had passed without a single strange event. The city had returned to its normal routine with nothing interrupting it. The murderer had not returned, leaving nothing in his wake but confusion and tense nights. Burmecians were already shrugging the murder off and returning to work. Everything seemed to be going back to normal routine.

She didn't like it in the least. The tension in the night was thick and uncomfortable, making her look behind her back every second. _Something_ was there, but for some reason the entire city didn't seem to notice it. They continued working, sleeping, and eating, oblivious to the dangers. It was as if two days was sufficient time for a murder to no longer be a concern, even though for a Dragon Knight, it only meant everything was all the more dangerous. Or, so it meant so for Freya, who had learned that things were normally most dangerous when they seemed to be safest. She knew better than to relax now that the murderer had seemingly disappeared; it only meant, to her, that he was probably preparing a counterstrike of some sort. He positively had to be out there.

Simply put, she was paranoid; however, it was fairly justified paranoia, and Freya found it to be a good enough reason to be continuing her patrol just as intensely as always. She was standing on the roof of an uninhabited house, scanning the city carefully, lance in her left hand. The rain was relatively light, for once, and therefore she was able to see a decent amount in the night, though not as much as she could if she had a decent light source. Still, it was enough to let her see that there was no one around on the rooftops except her. The Knight took one last look around, then slipped off the roof and landed as quietly as possible in the alleyway below. She then proceeded with another patrol of the city.

Thus far, her walk had proven to be just like the other ones: tense, dull, and offering nothing to help the situation. She would find no one stalking the streets, no one would get murdered, and everything would seem just as peaceful as ever... Except for the paranoia. No matter where she went, she always felt as if someone was watching her, waiting for her to make a single wrong move. It was persistent, staying with her even when she finished the patrol for the night, but she never saw a single person there. Freya had, at first, thought that she simply was being far sillier than usual... Until Fratley told her he had the same feelings. They later discovered that Rose and Aireff were having the same problems. It was a similar feeling to what they had experienced a few days ago, when following Puck to the castle to discuss their course of action.

Of course, all this did nothing for them but make them edgy. No one appeared to let them know it wasn't their imagination. No more murders were committed, no attempts; in fact, there was no crime at all. Many citizens were quite convinced that the murderer wouldn't be coming back, that he had accomplished what he wanted, and would now leave the city be. Only a few especially nervous citizens had an inkling that he may just be biding his time, and only Puck and the Knights seemed to truly believe it (and Puck's opinion of the whole matter changed hourly, so he truly didn't count). It was, overall, a situation that should've been rather encouraging, but was only turning out to be plain bad.

Freya shook her head, taking a turn into an alleyway she hadn't checked recently. Perhaps it was time for a different course of action. After all, the patrols were quite clearly getting none of them anywhere; the murderer had not been caught, and Puck was getting steadily more frustrated with their complete lack of progress. It may be time to retry figuring out the murderer's motives, and perhaps even come up with a way to lure him into a trap. Surely there must be _something_ that would fool him into attacking them; most people could be fooled into doing the silliest of things. After all, Freya had fallen right into the murderer's trap; surely they could come up with something to get him back. As she reached the end of the alleyway, and turned around, she found herself trying to think of a way to fool him...

Then she stopped dead cold, ears twitching. Tightening her grip on her lance, Freya looked around, trying to spot what had just made the very odd, unnatural noise. Seeing nothing, but not encouraged by the much stronger paranoia that she felt, Freya leapt with a single bound onto the roof. However, no one but herself was on the rooftops. The city had returned to silence once more, though she was quite certain that someone was watching her, and preparing to make some sort of move. With a steel-like grip on her lance, Freya tried to locate where the paranoia was coming from, something she had never tried in all her days of patrolling -- a situation that made her curse. Why _hadn't_ she thought of doing it earlier? Freya pushed away the self-criticism; she had to focus on where the feeling seemed to be. She found that it came from in front of her, and thus she decided to be daring. The Knight leapt forward onto the next roof.

She was greeted by a spell, appearing without warning, that nailed her in the chest, making her lose her footing and hurtle to the alleyway below. Gritting her teeth in an attempt to ignore the pain, but relieved that her body had somehow only been bruised, Freya got carefully to her feet, only to have a crossbow bolt whiz down and hit in the shoulder. Ignoring it, the Dragon Knight rolled to the right, then quickly to the left to try and confuse her unseen opponent. She then got to her feet and leapt onto the roof, sweeping her lance in an arc in front of her. While leaping, a crossbow bolt slammed into the ground where she had once rolled to, and her lance ended up sweeping against air. However, she did distinctly hear someone moving backwards on the roof, not to mention the reloading of a crossbow. Thus, Freya successfully leapt out of the way of another bolt, then dashed forward, lance ready for another strike.

She only ended up getting hit by another sudden spell, though this one only made her spin on the spot, reeling until she regained her balance, though her head still spun dizzily. It was a bizarre spell, certainly one Freya wasn't aware with, and her only reward for surviving its attempt to make her lose her balance was a shoulder bolt in her lower neck. Now finding the attacks to be less of a nuisance and more of a problem, Freya leapt into the air slightly, listening for the skittering of a person moving on the roof. Quickly she heard it, along with the shot of a crossbow; it was then that she noticed the bolt was visible, and indeed had become so the second it left the crossbow. The Knight ducked the bolt, then watched for when the next one was fired. Soon spotting it, she dashed forward, leapt onto another roof, and swept her lance out in an arc.

A grunt came to her ears, and she heard someone crash into the roof and skitter desperately to stay on top, though she didn't see anyone at all; she also didn't hear anyone hit the ground. Freya wasn't surprised, however, as she had longed figured that her opponent was invisible, and also very nimble. Cursing her obliviousness of late -- Invisibility was a _simple_ thing to guess and notice! -- the Dragon Knight tried to call upon a Dragon Ability. It didn't work, but not because she couldn't feel the power; it was because no words came to her lips. As she thought about it, she hadn't been able to make real noise since the first spell had hit her. It explained why she hadn't been severely injured from a direct spell; her opponent had, for some reason, only Silenced her. However, it didn't encourage her; it only seemed to confirm that her opponent was a decent mage, if not a very powerful one.

Thus, readjusting the grip on her lace, Freya stepped forward carefully. She then ended up ducking when another bolt went whizzing toward her. Keeping low to the ground, Freya dashed forward, then watched where the next bolt came from -- A few feet ahead. Freya leapt in the air to avoid the bolt, then threw her lance down toward where the next bolt was shot, heading for her in the air. The lance only clattered on the roof and fell straight off it, making Freya curse mentally while she took the bolt to the shoulder. She landed on the roof and allowed herself to slide off it; unfortunately, she ended up sliding straight into her opponent, and the two of them toppled off the building in a heap. The Dragon Knight, ignoring her now protesting body, punched at what looked to be the ground, and successfully hit flesh. She got a nasty kick from her opponent for her efforts, which made her decide that hand-to-hand combat with an invisible man wasn't worth it. Freya kicked him hard to stun him, then rolled away.

Rising to her feet, the Knight quickly scanned the area. She spotted her opponent's crossbow, and swiftly kicked at it; the weapon went soaring away, causing a very angry curse to come from no where. Further observations caused Freya to spot her lance, something she swiftly went rushing for. She grabbed it, only to be hit by a spell from behind while picking it up. The Dragon Knight toppled to the ground, dizzy and reeling from the spell. However, just like before, she swiftly recovered, and leapt to her feet, whirling around with her lance in front of her; it was proving to be an extremely effective move. That time, however, it hit nothing. Slightly confused -- wouldn't her opponent take the opportunity to hit her while she was down? -- Freya looked toward where she assumed her opponent had been. She quickly realized that she was looking around too late.

A fireball hit her in the side, scorching her right side severely, and making her completely lose her balance. The Dragon Knight collapsed in a heap on the floor, startled by the sudden spell; she hadn't heard it being prepared or seen it coming. Twitching, the Knight began to rise into a sitting position, trying as quickly as she could to get her grumpy body to continue working. The sound of someone jogging along the paved streets came to her ears, however, and she tried to roll out of the way. Her body wasn't in the mood, and she only ended up slipping toward the ground. This ended up being a good thing; an invisible blade left a long cut from her cheek to her forehead on the side of her head. Had she still been in the sitting position, Freya would've certainly taken the blade in the neck. Gritting her teeth, Freya took her lance and simply chucked it to her right; it successfully hit flesh, and someone tumbled heavily to the floor. A dagger suddenly appeared on the ground, clanging loudly, and Freya grabbed for it with her left hand, while she heard her opponent -- did he _ever_ stay down? -- once more scuffling to his feet.

It was at that point that a lance, coming from behind Freya, went straight through her opponent's neck. The Dragon Knight only ended up staring in complete confusion and surprise as a man, suddenly appearing beside her and looking just as shocked as she, toppled to the ground, and this time did not get back up. Moments later a soothing, green and white healing wind rushed by Freya, refreshing her and sending a spell that began to slowly heal her burns. Pulling the crossbow bolts out of her shoulders and neck so the Regen spell could do its work, Freya glanced toward who had arrived, though she had already guessed. Most of the Dragon Knights had awesome aim, but there was only one who would immediately think to use Reis' Wind, without asking silly, obvious questions beforehand.

Freya's guess proved to be correct; Rose was walking swiftly toward Freya, looking worried, annoyed, and very tired. She took one look at Freya, and pulled a bottle out of her pocket; she then jogged over to Freya and handed it to her without a word. Freya looked down at the bottle, then popped off the cork and drank it, figuring Rose didn't have a reason to poison her. A refreshing, almost nauseating feeling soared through her system, confirming to Freya that Rose had continued to prove perfectly sensible, and handed her a Remedy potion. Fratley or Aireff would've asked at least one question before even beginning to do any of those things; Rose proceeded with "treatment" almost as if in autopilot. Freya was only thankful for it; she had plenty of questions to ask, and didn't want to be delayed.

"Rose... What are you doing here? I thought you were patrolling at the Royal Gates?" Freya's voice sounded hoarse and weak, still influenced by the Silence spell. Freya and Rose both ignored it, knowing it would go away eventually, and that it certainly wouldn't stop them from conversing.

"I was... Until I heard a spell go off. It sounded incredibly large to be a single spell, and after seeing you and your new friend here, I think two spells went off at once..." Freya gave Rose a confused look, something that Rose returned with a very distressed smile. "I went in the direction of Lilah's house, figuring she was more helpless than yourself, and had a better chance of being murdered anyway... And sure enough, she was dead. Same story as before... No struggle, blinded before she was killed, but this time without anything being silenced or put under illusion. In fact, Fratley was there looking very stressed; seems he got there in time to see the guy disappear into thin air. Then I hear spells coming from here..."

"And you find me being attacked by a man with the ability to Silence," Freya finished when the older woman trailed off. "Two spells went off at once... He can't possibly be in two places at once. There must be two men behind the murders." It was the _last_ thing Freya needed to think about.

"Exactly my thoughts. We can talk about it later, though. We have to tell the other Dragon Knights... Then decide who's going to tell Puck. And I'm going to say it right now... I am _not_ going to be the one to tell him."

Puck was not happy.

Another murder had happened in the city, when he had specifically been trying to prevent that. He had sent his Dragon Knights on patrol, trusting they could find the man and prevent another disaster in his city. He had hoped for an easy end to the entire ordeal. Instead, he had gotten a very confusing three days, and then a wild climax to it all. Another murder had been committed, this time in the middle of the night, and quite loudly. Only a few seconds after that, or perhaps even at the same time, one of his Dragon Knights had been attacked and nearly flame-broiled alive. All in all, it added up to an extremely unhappy King.

His four Dragon Knights weren't in better spirits. In fact, most of them felt pretty stupid. All of them had feelings of paranoia, yet for some reason they had completely ignored it, and not even tried to focus on if it was coming from somewhere, or very simply there, with no meaning. They had completely failed to save one woman they were supposed to be especially protecting, then had one of their own ranks injured. Best of all, despite now knowing two men were involved, and having seen them both, they had only managed to kill one of them, and hence only knew what one of them looked like. The other had simply vanished into thin air, just as Fratley arrived on the scene. Hence, they had no idea what he looked like. It was very poor performance on their part.

Perhaps that was the reason none of the Dragon Knights were daring to look their angry King in the eye. As Puck paced impatiently in front of the Dragon Knights, awoken rudely from a nice sleep, he tried to find one Knight that was actually going to look at him and admit that they had made a _serious_ error. However, it was a little past one in the morning, a time that Puck did not like being up at. A small Guard division of the army was searching for spies -- a job normally left to Dragon Knights, which didn't help anyone's pride. Finally, news of the second murder _and_ injury of Dragon Knights would spread through the city like wild fire in a few hours -- resulting in the probable -- no, _guaranteed_ -- leave of most of the foreigners. It would also produce a very angry Burmecian family knocking down their door. With everything looking so glum, no one wanted to dare look at Puck, state the obvious, and have his wrath come down upon them. Puck was much younger than all of them, certainly, but he was also King, and therefore much scarier by right.

Regardless, Freya looked up to stare at the King. Rose glanced toward her as if she thought her fellow Dragon Knight suicidal, but Freya didn't seem to notice. She glanced at the other Knights, before realizing that they obviously could think of nothing productive to say. Most of them, therefore, would just sit quietly for a little longer, before finally realizing they were wasting time. Perhaps Aireff would say something if she didn't, but Aireff had been the one Dragon Knight absent from both situations -- Hence, he probably wouldn't be able to say anything that was exactly encouraging. Only Freya had anything hopeful to say -- while she hadn't been the one to kill the man, she hadn't exactly _lost_ him either. Thus, Freya steeled herself against the wrath of Puck, which seemed ready to rain down upon the entire lot of them if someone didn't speak quickly, and began.

"I know this looks really bad -- And it is," Freya started off, keeping as calm as possible. "However, we _did_ learn something -- The man is not alone. And he and his companion were obviously very similar -- both of them could cast spells, and apparently both could use a weapon. I'm safely assuming that only one of them could teleport... Either way, one of them is dead. Hopefully this will delay his partner, giving us some time..." She trailed off at this point, not quite sure _what_ they needed the time for. They could try to convince the city that everything was fine, but two murders in a few days wasn't going to have anyone very willing to believe them. They would just want the murderer captured or dead, not missing.

"Pu -- Uh, Your Highness." The amazing had happened. Rose had actually used Puck's official title. Even Puck looked amazed at this, and didn't begin screaming like he had seemed ready to do. Rose nearly sighed with relief, but managed to keep calm and continue, as if nothing extraordinary had happened. "We need a meeting to discuss this. A _real_ meeting, sir, not a half-assed one. We also need to contact nearby kingdoms and towns to ask if they've seen anyone suspicious or had any problems. We need to _do_ something. The city is going to erupt in chaos -- _two_ murders, both women, caused by the _same_ man, in a few days? After a few years of decent peace, this is _bad._"

Puck had had his mouth open, probably to argue. However, his eyes turned slightly upward; then he sighed, shaking his head and gaining a remotely calm look. He looked at the Dragon Knights before him, who all nodded at Rose's words. He then shook his head, before saying, "Fine, fine. I really had hoped to solve this easily but it's clear _that's_ not goin' to happen. Freya, you're practically a celebrity, so you can try an' convince the city that they are _not_ all goin' to die--" Freya definitely thought Puck was a little off in calling her a celebrity, but she didn't say anything -- Puck was continuing. "Rose, since you came up with the wonderful idea, _you_ can come up with who we should contact -- and do so. Aireff, be our efficient detective. I would send our hired one but he can't fight for crap. And Fratley... Get the army into shape. We need _patrols,_ and people at attention. Now--"

"If I may interrupt for a moment, King," Aireff cut in smoothly. Somehow, whenever he interrupted, he did it in the most polite way; regardless, Puck glowered at him with a look that said he would have been best to wait. Aireff only continued. "Nothing against her, of course, but it is... Wise to send Freya to encourage everyone? She is the only one of us who got hurt -- and as you expertly put it, she is a celebrity. If the town sees an assassin injured that one of the people who saved the world... It's not going to encourage many people. May I suggest sending Fratley? People love him, he has rhetoric, and he has... 'Relations' with our Hero. I think you'd be better sending him." Aireff shrugged helplessly, knowing very well that he may be overstepping his boundaries. Questioning Puck's decisions normally wasn't intelligent, and nearly stepping into Freya and Fratley personal relationship wasn't overly great either -- Freya was supposed to be a part of it, and even _she_ had no clue what was going on. Aireff could have very well offended the entire room.

However, more spectacular events occurred. Fratley and Freya only nodded with agreement at his words instead of wondering why he had paused at "relations", and Puck didn't throw a massive, kingly tantrum. Instead, he nodded thoughtfully, as if truly considering that someone other than himself could know what they were talking about. Rose couldn't help but stare, eyebrows raised with shock. Freya and Fratley took the time to glance at each other, as if asking "Where _do_ we stand with each other again?" Aireff simply looked around, making sure he hadn't offended anyone severely, then smiling weakly when everyone's reactions were the exact opposite of what he had expected. A few moments passed, before Puck cleared his throat, bringing the Knights' attention back on him. He nodded at Aireff, as if acknowledging that someone had actually outsmarted him.

"You have a point. All right, then, fine. Fratley, you will tell the city that they shouldn't start throwin' riots. Aireff, _you_ will go encourage the army -- Freya can't very well do that either. Rose can still be our diplomat. And Freya? You be our fighting detective. It'd be best to keep ya away from being seen anyway -- Your injuries will completely contradict whatever Fratley and Aireff say. There. _Now_ are ya all happy?" After the almost indignant speech, Puck swept his gaze across the room, giving everyone a look that quite clearly said they had _better_ be happy or someone was going to get hurt. Though Freya honestly wanted to ask how her being a detective was any better than her being diplomat or army general, she kept quiet; Puck had had to make a decision _twice,_ so it was best simply to smile and nod.

At seeing that his Dragon Knights were okay with his second plans, Puck nodded, and spared a few more seconds to speak once more, "Great. I'll give you a few days to get set. In three days, a _real_ meeting, to discuss what you've all done an' found. Dismissed." With that, Puck turned around and swept through the back door, most likely to return to his quarters and attempt to get some sleep. The Dragon Knights glanced at each other, before all turning and leaving the room together. Silence followed the group as they walked down the hallway, glancing at each other from time to time, but clearly too busy with their own thoughts to start and hold any intelligent conversation. Rose, however, in particular glanced around at the group; to Freya, she seemed to have something she desperately wanted to say, but didn't know when was the appropriate time. Fratley, in contrast, didn't look around much at all, and seemed very busy thinking over something; Freya figured it was the convincing speech he would have to try and give.

"I would suggest we all get some sleep." Ah, Rose had finally said what was on her mind. She attracted the attention of all but Fratley, who still seemed quite busy with his own thoughts. "I doubt _any_ of us are going to get any in a long time... Especially with man we seem to be dealing with. And Puck, of course." Naturally, Puck also fell into the equation where Rose was concerned. The other Dragon Knights only nodded, even Fratley, though his nod was barely noticeable. Seeming to notice this, Rose frowned, and looked toward her silent son. "Something wrong, Fratley?"

Fratley only shook his head, before speaking in a calm tone, though it was quite clear something was worrying him. "I have to try and convince everyone that things are going well -- Even though they quite obviously aren't." He had every reason to worry -- The inhabitants of the town were certainly not stupid, not to mention they were liable to spot Freya at _some_ point. Fratley's words could be contradicted by the simplest happening, and the city could notice with ease that him trying to calm everyone down was simply an attempt to cover up a huge problem. If Fratley didn't do his job well, he would have a lot of angry people to worry about.

Freya knew all of this, but she only smiled and patted Fratley on the shoulder. Encouragement was what Fratley needed, not agreement. "Don't worry about it. You'll do far better than me -- Sending me would be liable to scare everyone out of town." This was true -- While Rose's Reis' Wind had done an amazing job making Freya's burns light enough so she could walk, and eliminating the crossbow wounds, it had completely missed the cut on her head. Furthermore, various patches of burns were still present. Another Reis' Wind may have completed the job, but Freya knew they had more important things to worry about -- That, and Reis' Wind was one of the most obvious Dragon Abilities to notice; she didn't need to attract attention anymore.

Fratley smiled weakly at the encouragement, but didn't say anything. Silence once more descended upon the group as they walked outside the castle and began a quick walk out of the Royal Grounds. The city seemed spookily peaceful after the events of the day. The feeling of paranoia, all Knights noted, had thankfully disappeared, leaving the night seeming awfully beautiful. As Freya noticed the silhouette of the Royal Gate in the distance, she realized it felt like absolutely nothing had happened at all. However, the sting of her head wound as the rain hit it reminded her of how _false_ this feeling was. The troubles had not ended... In fact, she had a funny feeling they were all only at the gates of a living hell.

* * *

I don't have absurd ways to end chapters. What can you possible be talking about? Anyway, I'm back, for the ten trillionth time. This time the Writing Muse got uber-pissed at Fanfiction for some reason and refused to write anyway. So I chained her to a chair and forced her, and she cooperated! I swear, it's practically a soap opera in my brain. Anyway, the battle scene in this chapter is weird to say the least, but it's rather difficult to describe Freya trying to fight an invisible guy in the middle of the night. Oh well, it's _some_ excitement. At the rate I'm going, I don't think I'll even bother saying that the IC for characters is doing poorly. laugh 

Sadly, I could not find any particularly funny typos. However, my spelling of silhouette is amusing: "siholluette" laugh

See you whenever I get around to writing the next chapter!

This story is copyright to me. All elements of Final Fantasy IX are copyright to Square-Enix.


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